July News: Greenline Products in our Stores, Becoming a Member of WWA, and Beginning Trail Work
Don’t Forget to check out the special perks of Ice Fest Early Registration!
For $150, you can get all day climbing for saturday or sunday along with limited edition merchandise! These early registrations help to support us while simultaneously giving back to you!
Greenline are the cutest Poop bags you’ve ever seen … and made with a purpose
We have begun carrying Greenline products in our stores! Genuinely biodegradable poop bags, and stylish “banner bags” (pictured below) made from recycled banners. Greenline wants to make picking up after your dog good for not just your neighbors, but the environment, as well.
We’re happy to provide our Valdez adventurers this eco-friendly option.
Got Trail Work?
Got Trail Work?
Interested in work on some great trails? Hit us up! We’re in the process of scheduling more trail work on Berry Trail. We’d love to have you!
We’re so stoked!
We’re so stoked!
We’re stoked to be members of WWA!
Winter Wildlands Alliance was founded to represent backcountry skiers and human-powered recreation on America’s public lands.
Shout out to our sponsors
Rich and Nate break out the flamethrower while eating flaming hot wings | Hot Ones Hot Sauce Challenge!!!
#hotones #hotsaucechallenge #firstwefeast #welovecomplex #bikebash #valdezalaska #fatbike #fatbikelife #eastpeakresort #snowmachine #snowcat #glaciers #valdezglacierlake #welovealaska
SCORP
What is SCORP?! The PWSEDD tells us:
SCORP:
Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan
noun
An analysis that surveys outdoor recreation resources and opportunities for all regions of Alaska.A plan that identifies capital investment priorities for acquiring, developing, and protecting all types of outdoor recreation resources for the state of Alaska.On a five year cycle, states are able to write outdoor recreation plans that make their priorities eligible for national Land & Water Conservation Fund funding. Alaska's plan will be used to set practical, actionable priorities that will guide investment in state and local recreation infrastructure for the next five years (Alaska Outdoor Alliance). If you are an excursion or charter operator, PWS enthusiast, community official or business owner, we want to hear from you!
Outdoor recreation is more than good, clean fun: it creates jobs and economic benefits for our coastal communities. The University of Alaska's Center for Economic Development calculated that in-state consumer spending related to outdoor recreation trips amounts to nearly $3.2 billion annually. The PWSEDD is facilitating a regional planning group for our area, we'll be having a stakeholder meeting later this summer to review the draft PWS section of the plan. With outdoor recreation activities growing so fast in popularity, we want to be part of it to capture benefits for PWS businesses and to maintain the quality resources we have for providing quality experiences for visitors. Learn more about the SCORP here.Read about regional SCORP working groups.
July Trail Work and Clean Up Project
Blueberry Lake Campgrounds, Worthington Glacier, Shoup Bay Marine State Park Cabins Trail work and clean up project. We're in need of a new window as well as additional tools. The water also is low this year so the hiking trail to get to some locations are longer than in past years since the boat cannot access the area - This means we will have some additional trail work we need to do this year! https://www.bonfire.com/i-heart-alaska/
News: Welcome new members, Go Fund Me, Event presale, and More about who we're joining forces with ❤ Not to mention, we have a Women's Adventure Retreat coming up!
New News!
Visit and Share our GoFundMe
This GoFundMe will help VAA become more self-sufficient, and allow us to care for our grounds and make our events the best they could be. Right now, we are in desperate need for a few essential tools, such as a Dewalt cordless shop vac, Dewalt cordless jig saw, Dewalt cordless circular saw, a Pick Up Truck or Passenger Van, and a shallow bottom boat would be very helpful. While we do rely on grants, they are never guaranteed. Love from the community will not only help us buy the items we need but it will also show our grantors that the clinics, workshops, and trail work we provide are valuable to residents and visitors! Thank you for all you do for Valdez Adventure Alliance!
If you can’t contribute, we always appreciate it when you share (you can use the GoFundMe share tools) with your friends, family, and other adventure enthusiasts. If you haven’t yet, consider supporting through our Ice Fest and Bike Bash Presale pages (below). Another option is sharing with your local climbing gyms, bike shops and adventure outlets (we can personalize flyers if you like, so reach out to us!). If you are a business owner, please consider donating a fund raising item and get a big shout out from the team.
Welcoming New Members!
Welcome to new VAA members, Timothy and Karissa Cassel, we hope you and your daughters enjoy your memberships and its perks! Thank you to one of our trail sponsors, Extreme Terrain!
Come volunteer or work for us!
If you’re looking to volunteer or work for a non-profit, we would love to have you join our Valdez Adventure Alliance family! We need someone to help out with a variety of tasks including trail maintenance, lodging maintenance, admin, scanning, stocking, event helper, and customer service. All the work we do requires dedication. It's varied work and sometimes very physically challenging! Volunteer work could lead to employment (if desirable).
Ice Fest and Bike Bash are now on presale!
Visit our Indiegogo pages to check out all the special perks of buying presale tickets
We are so stoked to team up with Winter Wildlands Alliance!
Winter Wildlands Alliance is a national nonprofit organization promoting and preserving winter wild lands and a quality human-powered snow sports experience on public lands. They’ve done some great work and we’re happy to join them! Give their page a visit, they wrote a little welcome for us!
We Want You!
Hello! So we need your help! As you may or may not know, we recently had a broken window at one of the cabins at Shoup Bay. While this might be a trip around to the local hardware store normally, for us, it required several water taxi trips, refunds and a figuring out a repair! All these added expenses + the regular clean up mission (another water taxi trip expense - which we are so grateful for Valdez Water Taxi!), several times we have experienced theft and vandalism and all of the regular trail maintenance requires tools and fuel, vehicles and manpower! Please help us maintain these public lands. To learn more click the link, watch the videos! Thank you <3 We love what we do - we hope you do too!!! https://gofund.me/075728d8
Worthington Glacier Now Open
Worthington Glacier rec site is open
$5 parking/day use fee gets you clean and well stocked bathrooms with hand sanitizer, trash service, educational interpretive panels and model, covered pavilion, wheelchair access trail, viewing scopes
Visitor center and shop is open 9am-6pm daily with drinks, snacks, souvenirs, hiking and camping supplies, etc. Currently cash only.
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📷 Jeremy Talbott 😎
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#worthingtonglacier #valdez #valdezalaska #hiking #adventure #alaska #greatoutdoors #optoutside #giftshop #valdezgiftshop #explorealaska
We've launched our first IndieGoGo Campaign!
Be among the first to Save the Date, Help us with our important work, and join us on a grand and beautiful fat bike adventure in Valdez, Alaska! Spectate, Race, Meet New Friends, and Explore this Last Frontier!
Newsletter! National Trails Day and more!
Sneak Peek vids!
When you shop with us, AmazonSmile will donate a portion of your eligible purchases to Valdez Adventure Alliance at no cost to you!
Community Trails Day proclamation!
Tuesday evening the Valdez City Council will be presenting the Community Trails Day proclamation. You can log into the council meeting to hear it!
As of now, the forecast for Valdez for Saturday, June 5th is 59 degrees and no rain! YAY! ✌🤩🙏🥳 Looking forward to seeing volunteers at the Shoup Bay Trailhead any time between 10am to 2pm for National Trails Day.
Gear, snacks, drinks, and swag provided. Families welcome. Let's do this!
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#nationaltrailsday #americanhikingsociety #valdez #adventure #alaska #thingstodo #hiking #trails #naturebath #volunteer #celebrate
For Michael
For Michael Backus, a patron and a friend. Rest in Peace 🙏🏻 “Michael Backus
Michael Backus, 40, passed away unexpectedly on May 12, 2021, in Wasilla.
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As a lifelong Alaskan, Mike was born in Anchorage and grew up in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Following his graduation from Colony High School, he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and his Master of Arts in Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Mike married his high school sweetheart, Tammy Heimerl, in 2002, and as newlyweds they volunteered with the Peace Corps in Bangladesh. This August would have been their 19th anniversary. Mike enjoyed exploring this beautiful state with Tammy and their three children through hiking, kayaking, camping, orienteering, and biking in all seasons. A favorite activity was staying in park cabins both near and far. Michael’s infectious smile stands out most from photos taken on these outings.
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Mike had a passion for robotics and programming which he shared through camps around the state. He enthusiastically taught at the Alaska Summer Research Academy, Alaska Society for Technology in Education conference, within his community, and in China. Most recently, Mike was working as a teacher at Teeland Middle School, where he was awarded the Voya Unsung Heroes award in 2016 for his innovative teaching methods and positive influence. Prior to his time at Teeland, he was an academic advisor at Twindly Bridge Charter School and taught math at Burchell High School. He dedicated himself to learning Spanish, putting these language skills into practice with a six-week family trip to Costa Rica in 2017.
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Mike is survived by his wife, Tammy; his three children, Xander, Kielee, and Kaija; his father, Gene; his mother, Therisa; his sister, Ingrid; and his extensive extended family.
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A Celebration of Life will be held at Teeland Middle School beginning at 10:00 AM on Saturday, May 22. He will be laid to rest in the Palmer Cemetery following a private graveside service.
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If you or someone you know needs to talk, please reach out to the Suicide and Crisis Hotlines.
1 (907) 376-2411
1 (907) 258-7575
1 (800) 784-2433
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#momentofsilence
Airport Travel Shop Opening
Check out the Alaska Glacial Mud Masks and gorgeous gaucha facial tools made from stone & Erin’s Studio 451 jewelry! It’s earthy metal hand made jewelry from outside Durango ✌🏽 🌞
We’re pretty excited about the new airport shop! Best seller Leave Only Footprints by Conor Knighton is a wonderful read and way to journey to all of our National Parks from your favorite chair! Just released April 2021, we’re very pleased to carry it. Kiska will be happy to catch a ride and read with your little ones!
Opening May 27th!
PS The Worthington Glacier shop will open June 12th
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#valdezadventurealliance #valdezalaska #valdezadventures #randomhouse #leaveonlyfootprints #newyorktimebestseller #conorknighton #kiska #childrensbooks #kidsreading #giftshop #worthingtonglacier
ACCESS FUND GRANT AWARDED!
We are overwhelmed with joy to announce we have been awarded an Access Fund grant for 2021. The Access Fund is the national advocacy organization that keeps U.S. climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment. Learn more about Access Fund at www.accessfund.org. The 2021 grant to VAA will be used to purchase trail equipment to complete work on Berry Trail, which will link two climbing locations: Blueberry Block and Raspberry Rock, as well as provide access to Thompson Lake for fishing, kayaking and paddleboarding.
Not only that, we are super psyched to announce a Joint Membership Program with Access Fund. Now your One membership can benefit Two great organizations striving to provide access and encouraging people to a healthy and happy life with the great outdoors.
Photo credit: Zach Sheldon. We chose this photo because not only did the dark background make everything pop, the northern lights in the background really exemplifies just how special and unique this wild land is! This photo is a wonderful shot and we are grateful to Zach for being a part of VAA. Find out more about Zach at Alaska.guide .
You can volunteer to help on the trail by emailing lanette@valdezadventure.com. Find out more about Blueberry Lake Campgrounds, climbing and other events, and more trails at our website: valdezadventurealliance.com.
Please consider becoming a member today! https://www.accessfund.org/pages/joint-member-event-portal
Shout Bay Cabins Ready to go!
Good times out on the Sound. A special thank you to our Volunteer this year Asia & David Christensen, Bernie Irish, Ben Rush, Jim Pompulin, Aloura & Abbie Cottle. We had a special group go out and provide the annual maintenance and clean up out at Shoup Bay Cabins. Everyone worked hard and we are so grateful for thier sacrifice.
Also, Huge shout out to Valdez Water Taxi!
We love our intern, Cal, from PWSC!
We love our intern, Cal!!! "As this spring semester is winding down, we had a chance to hear about another successful internship placement between a PWSC outdoor leadership student and Valdez Adventure Alliance (VAA). Cal Gerber spent this semester interning with Lanette Oliver, VAA Executive Director. Cal shared, “My internship this year was awesome. Lanette is one of the best supervisors I have ever had. It made my internship with the VAA that much better. During the Ice Climbing Festival, I was involved with so many things like writing down the participant's name tags, cutting out and hanging up flyers, calling instructors and companies to see if they were coming to the event, prepping VAA for the festival and so much more. I have learned a lot about planning and preparing for community events.”
According to Lanette, “We were very lucky to have Cal through the Ice Climbing Festival and the Fat Bike Bash. He has earned the nickname "Can Do" Kid because that is his response when I ask him to do things. We are excited because he has promised to work for VAA again when the fall semester starts.” "
Thanks for another great Bike Bash!
Now that all our contestants are at home, relaxing from a job well done, we thought it might be nice to put together a video to remember the experience! There are definitely some moments here that made us excited (and laugh) seeing them again. We are very satisfied with how the race turned out, it was great seeing so many people having fun racing. We also have all the times posted right below. Already excited for next year!
Big thanks to the City of Valdez for sponsoring this event, along with The Prospector, Copper Valley Electric, The Fat Mermaid, CVEA Community Foundation, International Mountain Biking Association, and Growler Bay.
National Trails Day (June 5)
Taken from the American Hiking Society: Millions of people have found physical, mental, and emotional restoration on trails during the pandemic. Let’s return the favor and care for America’s magnificent trail system while also making sure everyone in the U.S. has easy, welcoming access to trails and natural areas. Together we can care for our hometown trails, even while social-distancing.
American Hiking Society understands organizing safe events in 2021 can be challenging and not possible in some areas. We’ve added the ability to register virtual events for National Trails Day® so you can still connect with your community even if you can’t organize an in-person event this year.
We also know COVID guidelines vary across the country, so we ask all National Trails Day® events to abide by guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as state and local governments.
National Trails Day® event registration is now open!
Register an event on the official National Trails Day® event site, and your event will be visible to people looking to support trails and get outside in celebration of National Trails Day®.
In 2019, National Trails Day® reached more than 19 million people through social media feeds alone. It’s an excellent opportunity to connect to new and existing trail users in your community, whether in-person or virtually. Registered events may also receive added support and promotion from national sponsors (more details to come). Journalists also use the event database to find events to highlight in their coverage of June 5.
COVID guidelines for events may change between now and June, but as a reminder, you can edit your event details within the event host portal at any time.
We hope to see you on the trail on June 5!
PS: You can choose to observe National Trails Day® on any day to suit your programmatic needs.
Founded in 1976, American Hiking Society is the only national nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering all to enjoy, share, and preserve the hiking experience.
email us at events@valdezadventure.com for any questions
Fat Bikes, Member drive, Bike & Bark & More!
UPDATE:
BIKE BASH IS HAPPENING, WITH SOME NEW CHANGES
We have worked hard to make this a COVID conscious event.
We do have measures in place. See Policies — Valdez Adventure Alliance
HOWEVER, WE ARE MAKING THE FURTHER SAFETY MEASURES:
Youth bike rodeo events are cancelled.
Parents can pick up bike safety coloring books, crayons, and reflectors by driving up to Fat Mermaid and we will hand them to you through the car window.
All awards will be given out immediately at the event, not at the Saturday evening gathering.
If you think you may have been exposed, please do not come. We are happy to refund 100 percent of any registration fees.
Feel free to call Lanette Oliver at 972-835-6039 or 907-255-6039 or email lanette@valdezadventure.com for more information.
Grateful for you!!! Huge thanks to our Buy the Foot Doggie Donors <3 (and their humans ;)
We've got some great new additions for our Bike Bash store online! There's some beautiful jewelry from Studio 451, as well as new bags (made from recycled bike tires!) from Deb's Upcycled Designs.
You can meet Deb this weekend at Bike Bash and find the Studio 451 jewelry at our VAA table!
Become a member today!
Please vote for us for the Access Fund’s Climbing Conservation Grant
Hello Adventurers,
Today we are asking for your help. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on grants to complete projects that will help the environment. We need you to vote for Valdez Adventure Alliance on this year’s Access Fund Climbing Conservation Grant. This annual fund has helped many companies, including us, last year.
In 2020, we used the Access Fund’s grant to start the Berry Trails. We had a few setbacks (who didn’t in 2020?) but now the trail is open, and leads to some great climbs! This was all possible because of the partial grant from Access Fund.
This year, we want to finish the Berry Trail construction, to avoid potentially negative environmental impacts while keeping the Blueberry Rock and Raspberry Rock areas available to the public. With several events and an outdoor college program beginning this fall, it is important we complete this trail soon.
How To Vote
When you visit the survey site, scroll down to 9. Valdez Adventure Alliance and select “5 - High Priority”. It will look like this:
Vote Now!
We plan on using this money to clear trails and manage the land, to help you and others have access to wild spaces and rock faces for sport, recreation, or just to appreciate the outdoors!
Happy St. Patty's Day!
The Valdez Fat Bike Bash 2021 is fast approaching! Sign up today for Races, Relays, Street Party & Family Fun!
Thanks to VAA’s Advisory Council member, Rich Loftin, for this amazing photo!
We’re excited to welcome Deb’s Upcycled Designs this year! Give her a like and a follow!
A family-friendly event with a prize at every stop!
Bike ride starts/ends at CVT with Snacks & Water . Roll down to A Rogue's Garden, then The Prospector, and South Central Hardware where you'll draw prizes from each, then to The Fat Mermaid to turn over a bar glass for discount coupons! At the Civic Center, reach into the popcorn to draw for movie night snacks and gift certificates for the Civic Center Cinema! Roll back to CVT for prizes from CVEA!
VOTING IS OPEN! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N6TY2N8
Sponsor an American Trails Webinar to Reach 500 to 1,100 Attendees
From the February American Trails newsletter:
We plan to continue offering increased options for training via our Advancing Trails Webinar Series in place of the many conferences that have been canceled/postponed this year and are continuing to hold one webinar per week, when possible. It is also our intention to continue to make all of these webinars FREE to the public. But we need your sponsorship dollars to help make this possible!
All webinars noted below have partner sponsorships available ($250) but only the ones marked with an asterisk (*) have public sponsorships available ($3,000 – listed as main sponsor with more recognition). We added MORE benefits for public sponsors in 2021. Email candace@americantrails.org to become a sponsor today and learn more.
Early 2021 Webinars (With Dates) Available for Sponsorship:
April 22, 2021* – Effective Programs to Improve Access and Use of Trails for Youth from Under-Resourced CommunitiesApril 29, 2021* – Assessing Trails: LiDAR Assisted Trail Topography Evaluation (LATTE) (Partner sponsor Voss Signs)May 13, 2021 – Integrating Trails into Park Planning (Sponsored by SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism)July 2021 – Equestrian Trail Design and Best Practices From Backcountry to Urban Edge Settings: A Deeper Dive (Sponsored by Tennessee Valley Authority) Early 2021 Webinars (Dates TBD) Available for Sponsorship:Estimating Trail Costs and Return on Investment (Sponsored by SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism) Wheels and Legs: How Well Do They Mix? Addressing Nonmotorized Trail User Conflicts*Dealing with Trail Maintenance Backlog Forum* (Partner sponsor Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado)Policy and Trails*Railroads and Right-of-ways*Trail Ambassador Programs*Equity/Access* (Co-hosting with Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals) (4 webinars in September 2021)We welcome your suggestions to host your own webinar or sponsor a topic of interest (we can assist with finding presenters)!